“No yaar, Test cricket is so boring. Who has time to watch for five days.”
Every cricket fan has heard this said to him or her at least once by friends (presumably now ex-friends), family or even other cricket fans. Recently, while watching the India-Pakistan Champions Trophy game, a friend told me, in passing, that Test cricket was ‘boring’. That damn word, again.
“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” I had always thought. But this was an arrow to the heart. Clenching my fists, I challenged myself to find Test cricket’s greatest hits in recent times (May 2016 to May 2017), refusing to rest till I had cleansed myself with a healthy dose of good old fashioned gritty Test cricket.
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Therefore, here are five best Test matches of this season.
#5 England vs Bangladesh at Chittagong, 20-24 October 2016
Closeness of result: 5/5Balance between bat and ball: 4/5Context: 4/5Standard of Play: 3/5 Aggression: 5/5 The first match of a two-match series saw the hosts fall agonisingly short of their first Test win against a team other than Zimbabwe or the West Indies. The game was played on an absolute ripper of a wicket in Chittagong.
Th crowd saw 19-year-old debutant Mehedi Hasan rip the heart out an England batting line-up that seemed to forget how to play spin.
Eventually, debutant Sabbir Rahman led the chase of 286 runs on the 4th day and was unbeaten overnight with Bangladesh 33 runs from a historic win. A strong exhibition of reverse swing on the final morning saw a packed Chittagong stadium left dejected, their team just 22 runs short of upsetting England.
The game was one of the most tantalising games of Test cricket in recent times for a variety of reasons. Things had gotten heated between the two teams during the ODI series, where players had been fined for their conduct on the field, leading to heightened tensions.
Bangladesh’s performance against England signified the rise of Bangla Tigers in the longest form of the sport, 17 years after their introduction to the format. The game was close from start to finish and wickets fell at regular intervals throughout the game, making it impossible to keep oneself away from the television screen throughout the five days.
The match showcased both the teams’ young talent through the revelation that is Mehedi Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, who almost won Bangladesh the game and the coming of age of Ben Stokes, whose maturity with the bat and excellence with the ball was a precursor to his breakthrough 2017 season.
#4 Pakistan vs West Indies at Roseau, 10-14 May 2017
Closeness of result: 5/5Balance between bat and ball: 4/5Context: 4/5Standard of Play: 3/5 Aggression: 2/5 Last game of the Test season and the entire cricketing community had turned its attention to the IPL. Well, not everybody.
In Roseau, Dominica, a packed stadium bid adieu to Pakistan’s, arguably, greatest captain and their greatest batsman on a historic day. What didn’t this game have?
Signature Azhar Ali gritty century, two guards of honour, trademark Pakistani collapse and some beautiful spin bowling. With about a day left to bat, chasing 302, the West Indies found themselves crumbling at 47/3 when he-of-incredible-fighting-spirit, Roston Chase, walked out to bat.
In an incredible day of grinding, he found himself with the number 11, Shannon Gabriel, with 7 balls left in the Test match. All 9 fielders were around the bat and Gabriel inexplicably looked to smash a Yasir Shah googly out of the stadium and chopped on. Misbah had won Pakistan their first Test series in the West Indies.
From the incredibly close finish to the fact that this was the last time we would see Misbah and Younis play, it was a game that played to one’s emotions. The presentation ceremony was somewhat a cross between a funeral and a wedding, mourning for Pakistan’s dearly departed stars, mixed with celebrations for their victory (and their fielding wasn’t half-bad either).
For the West Indies, it was heartbreak once again for Jason Holder, but not without some happy takeaways: they had found a reliable all-rounder in Roston Chase, who took 5 wickets and scored 170 runs in the game to earn the man of the match award. It was not just a great day of cricket, but a great day for cricket.
#3 South Africa vs Australia at Hobart, 12-15 November 2016
Closeness of result: 2/5Balance between bat and ball: 5/5Context: 4/5Standard of Play: 3/5 Aggression: 4/5
A timeless TV trope is that of the bully finally getting vanquished by the good guys. For decades, the Big Bad Aussies ran rampant all over the world, demolishing teams. No team was a match for the raw pace and verbal abuse of the teams of Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and the like.
So, when Australia were somewhat in a position of weakness, eaten alive by the lovable Rangana Herath in Sri Lanka, I was excited to see my childhood bully finally get what was coming to him. On a green wicket in Hobart, with the entire first day washed out, the Australians were bowled out for 85.
It’s not that the Australian batsmen hadn’t shown application, it was as if they’d completely forgotten how to play. Kyle Abbott, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada (assisted by a handy throw from sub-fielder Dane Vilas) crashed through the Australians.
On their second try, Australia slipped, stumbled and eventually collapsed for 161, giving South Africa a win by an innings and 80 runs. It was a win that meant Australia discarded Mitch Marsh (don’t worry, he inexplicably came back), Adam Voges, Joe Mennie, Callum Ferguson, Joe Burns and Peter Nevill.
It sent such shockwaves in their administration that it completely changed their selection policies. For South Africa, this was a key stepping stone in their climb back up to glory. In the last 18 months, they had fallen five places down to 6th in the rankings, and this moralising win against Australia, without AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn, signified a new attitude from the shameful 2015-2016 season.
The change in captaincy from AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis also proved to be a vital part of their team’s climb to number 2 in the rankings.
#2 Pakistan vs England at Lord’s, 14-17 July 2016
Closeness of result: 4/5Balance between bat and ball: 4/5Context: 4/5Standard of Play: 5/5Aggression: 4/5
The reason Test cricket is not like other sports is because it slow-cooks. It is a story with a finite exposition, conflict and resolution. That is what people tune in to see. In the Lord’s Test, we saw the build up to a tense encounter. Harsh interviews, booing crowds and calls for lifetime bans for Mohammad Amir.
We saw the looks of angry fans when he ran in to bowl his first ball back in Test cricket, the tension in the Pakistan team and finally, his cathartic scream when he dismissed the England captain. The story of this Test match was of a team, returning to where its troubles started and overcoming them, united.
Pakistan were playing against their past as much as they were playing against England and they showed it. Amir swung the ball a long way, Misbah hit a classy hundred and Yasir Shah made good use of the Lord’s slope in his team’s 75-run win. The game set up one of the all-time greatest series, where Pakistan overcame all the disadvantages they came in with.
For England, the game marked the revelation of Chris Woakes, who took 11 wickets in the game. The game makes it to the top 2 because of the context behind it, the closeness of the game, the chivalry with which it was played and perhaps most importantly, Misbah’s iconic push-ups upon winning the game.
#1 India vs Australia at Bangalore, 4-7 March 2017
Closeness of result: 4/5Balance between bat and ball: 5/5Context: 4/5Standard of Play: 5/5 Aggression: 5/5
The stage was set. Australia had hammered India embarrassingly in the first Test on a spinning surface. The Bangalore surface was possibly the most alien pitch Test cricket has seen in a long time and uneven bounce, ragging turn and huge cracks greeted the teams. What ensued was perfect chaos.
Nathan Lyon took 8 Indian scalps, leaving India shocked at 189. India then responded with a spell of bowling so fierce that it led Ishant Sharma to make a face reserved only for the scariest of horror movies. After three days of intense battle, sledging, terrible commentary and strange press conferences, Australia needed just 187 to win in their second innings.
Cue an Ashwin masterclass. India win by 75 runs in front of a packed Chinnaswamy stadium. The game allowed India to gain back its respect in what has become a highly contested rivalry, setting up the series for an eventual decider in Dharamsala.
The two teams to went at each other as hard as they possibly could, and one could see the extremely high quality of cricket, be it in Josh Hazlewood’s 2nd innings spell, Nathan Lyon’s 8-fer, Pujara and Rahane’s partnership or Kohli’s captaincy.
The game was a great advertisement for Test cricket, a showcase of everything that makes the game so captivating: a villain to hate in Steve Smith (or Virat Kohli, if you’re an Australian), excellent bowling, fielding and batting by both teams, a close finish, aggression and both teams competing hard to win the trophy.
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